Business

Fort Morgan esthetician gets savvy about acne

Owner of Savvy Faire skin care clinic gets acne certification

By Stephanie Alderton

Times Staff Writer

Posted:
03/07/2016 12:09:41 PM MST

Sherilynn Ballheim sits beside her new acne specialist certification perched on the windowsill at her practice, which is in a housing development along state Highway 144 northwest of Fort Morgan. (Stephanie Alderton / Fort Morgan Times)

Click photo to enlarge

Sherilynn Ballheim sits beside her new acne specialist certification perched on the windowsill at her practice, which is in a housing development along state Highway 144 northwest of Fort Morgan.

Sherilynn Ballheim has run a esthetician practice for nine years, but now she's expanding her horizons.

Ballheim became certified as an acne specialist in September through Face Reality Acne Clinic. She's now the only certified acne care provider in the county, and she's hoping the title will bring some more business to her shop, Savvy Faire Fine Skin Care.

But more importantly, she's excited to be able to provide an effective treatment for a widespread and embarrassing problem, rather than the less-than-successful products she sold before.

Pictured is the outside of Savvy Faire, where Ballheim has been practicing her esthetician business for nine years in a housing development along state Highway 144 northwest of Fort Morgan. (Stephanie Alderton / Fort Morgan Times)

"Acne is so frustrating for both estheticians and the clients, in that it's continually very challenging for them to get rid of," Ballheim said. "It's a good investment of money to go through the training and get this certification."

The program she chose was developed by Laura Cooksey, an esthetician based in California. Ballheim studied the Face Reality method and passed a test on her knowledge, and now she still gets online support from other estheticians in the program. She is also qualified to sell Face Reality products, which she said are far better than most over-the-counter acne treatments.

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Those treatments, including some products she has sold in the past, tend to contain pore-clogging ingredients, Ballheim said. Face Reality instead contains exfoliating and anti-fungal ingredients that attack the root of the problem: the build-up of dead skin cells that clog pores and lead to infection.

Savvy Faire acne clients will get a facial and evaluation every two weeks using the Face Reality products, starting with small amounts and building up over time. Although it varies from client to client, Ballheim said the skin usually starts to clear after about two months.

So far Ballheim has only treated a few acne patients, but she said all of them have seen improvement, even some who have been trying other methods for years without success.

"It's rewarding," she said. "I don't have to send them home with another product line and just cross my fingers that it'll work. Because honestly, I was feeling kind of like a fraud before."

She said the treatment can work for both men and women of all ages, and allergic reactions are rare.

Savvy Faire isn't the easiest business to find in Fort Morgan. It's located in a housing development on state Highway 144 a bit northwest of most of the city, and clients have to go through a gate at the side of a house in order to reach it. But although she has to give detailed directions to new clients, Ballheim said the isolated location works in her favor in some ways.

"Men, in particular, don't like anyone to know that they're coming in for a facial," she said. "They have this perception that it's a feminine thing to do. Out here, nobody knows they're coming."

Ballheim also keeps her hours flexible in order to be able to serve more clients.

She isn't planning to add any other services to her business at the moment — she said the acne certification was complicated enough. But soon she hopes to start selling a general skin care line designed for acne patients, so that those undergoing the Face Reality treatment will have options for makeup and other products.

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